Delbarton Baseball staged a dramatic late-inning comeback to defeat Mainland Regional 4-3 in 10 innings on Wednesday, overcoming a 3-0 deficit to notch the walk-off win.
Mainland took control early, scoring two runs in the first and adding another in the top of the sixth to take a 3-0 lead. Delbarton had been held scoreless through six innings before breaking through in the bottom of the seventh.
With two outs, Matt Tafuri singled and Danny Haggard walked to spark the rally. Sal Garcia drove in Tafuri with a single to center, and after Lorenzo Maselli was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Miles Handy delivered a two-run single to left to tie the game at 3-3.
Both teams threatened in the eighth and ninth innings, but neither could break through against strong relief pitching. In the bottom of the 10th, Curt Friedrich and Brandon Kim opened with singles, with Friedrich reaching third on Kim's bunt hit. Tafuri walked to load the bases, and Garcia came through again with a single to center to bring home Friedrich for the walk-off victory.
Kyle McBridge started for Delbarton, going four innings with five strikeouts and two earned runs. The bullpen trio of Brady Smith, Steve Pannullo, and Noah Morales combined for six strong innings, allowing just two hits and one run while striking out five.
Delbarton gets 2 days off before welcoming the #1 ranked team in NJ, Gloucester Catholic to Fleury Field on Saturday.